Heel-seat forming machine



July 26, 1938. M. cuozzo HEEL SEAT FORMING'MACHINE Original Filed May 22, 1936- 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 26, 1938. M. cuozzo HEEL SEAT FORMING MACHINE Original Filed May 22, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m M V 4 w a n m w m a m l w u m M m u m 2 a Z L, w a a a ./O-.O EM? EWPWJ v? M AM u 1 Q J Kim; n {1 I F rkJ F ww \L w 8 a MC 0 4, w 9 s Patented July 26, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEEL-SEAT FORMING MACHINE- Michele Cuozzo, Lynn, Mass, assignorto United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey 6 Claims;

This invention relates to machines for use in the manufacture of shoes and is illustrated as embodied in a machine for shaping the heel seats of shoes for the reception of heels.

As disclosed in an application for United States Letters Patent, Serial No. 81,306, filed May 22, 1936, in my name, in order to improve the joints between the counter portions of shoes and heels attached to the shoes, I propose to wipe limited portions of the opposite sides of the counter portion of the shoe toward the heel seat of the shoe, while the heel seat is being shaped by the use of a heel-seat forming mold or by a heel during its attachment to the shoe, and to maintain said opposite sides of the counter portion of the shoe in wiped relation with the mold or heel while the mold or. heel isheld under heavy molding pressure againstthe heel seat of the shoe.

In accordance with ,a feature of the present wipers by pressure applied against the heel seat of the shoe until limited by the engagement of said form with said abutment therebyicausing limited portions of the sides of the counter portion of the shoe to be wiped toward the heel seat as the shoe is moved toward the abutment.

The various features of the invention will be understood and appreciated from the following detailed description read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which 1 Fig. 1 is a side View, partly broken away, of the illustrated heel-seat molding machine in which a shoe mounted upon a last is positioned, preparatory to operating upon the shoe;

Fig. 2 shows inperspective a portion ofthe machine and the shoe of Fig. 1- as viewed in the direction indicated by arrows IIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on line IIIIII of Fig. 1 after the last upon which the shoe is mounted has been forced against the abutment of the machine. under pressure of alnold against the heel seat of ing face of which has been coated with thermoplastic adhesive; and f Fig. 7,is .a side view of the above machine the mold of which has been replaced by a clamping unit for accommodating a heel. which molds the 5 heel seat of the shoe during its attachment to the shoe. 7 1

As stated in the above-mentioned application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 81,306, the. front and rear ends 20, .2, respecl0 tively (Fig. 1), of the overlasted counter portion of a womans shoe are commonly higher than the central side portions 24 of the overlasted counter portion, thereby causing the heel of the finished shoe frequently to bridge the side margins of the heel seat. In such a construction, gaps, which detract from the appearance of the finished shoe are formed between the sides of the counter-portion of the shoe and the rim of.the heel. ,The above defect has been largely overcome by prac- 2'0 ticing the method disclosed and'claimed in the above application.

In order to facilitate practicing the above improved method I have provided an illustrated heel-seat molding machine (Fig; 1) comprising32'5 a pair of wipers orsupports 26 which are constructed and arranged to be engaged by the opposite sides of the counter portion of a shoe 28 upon a. last 30 and to wipe limited portions of thesi'd'es of the counter portion toward the heel 30 seat of the shoe while a heel-seat forming mold 32 is forced downward against the heel seat of the shoe. The illustrated mold 32 is heatedby an electric coil 33 (Fig. 3) receiving current M through leads 34. The operative face 36 (Fig. 1) of the mold 32 has a shape substantially the same as that'of; the attaching face of a heel 40 (Fig. 6) which is to be attached to the shoe.

The wipers 23 comprise work-engaging pads 42 which are made of leather,.rubber or other 40 suitable material, and are carried by arms 44 journaled upon screws 46 in threadedrelation with the machine frame. The arms 44 are mounted for equal and opposite movement with relation to each other with the provision ofintermeshing gear segments 48 and are normally urged toward each other by a spring50 thelends of which engage within, recesses '52 formed in depending extensions .54 of the arms 44 :Movement of thewipers 26 toward each otherunder 50 the action of the spring 50 is limited by the engagementof'the depending extension of one of the arms 44" with a nut '56 carried by a bolt 58 hinged to the depending portion of the other A arm. The nut 56 may be adjusted into'difierent 55 positions along the threaded portion of the bolt 58 in order initially to position the work-engaging pads 42 of the wipers in accordance with the width of the shoe.

When the shoe is placed upon the wipers 26 with its rear end in engagement with an adjustable back gage 60 (Fig. 1) the last 30 is spaced from'an abutment 62 which may be secured to the machine frame in different vertical positions through the provision of screws 64 passing through an elongated slot 66 of the abutment 62 and in threaded relation with the machine frame. The rearface of the abutment 62 and the front face of the machine frame are ser-.

up by the use of a quantity. of thermoplastic adhe'sive (Fig. 2) which, when in a softened condition, isplaced beneath the tab '12 of the sole 14 of the shoe. The tab 12 is provided with an elongated slot 16 through which flows a portion of the thermoplastic adhesive 10 not required to fill the recess 18 formed by the insole and the overlasted margin of the shoe upper, as the mold 32 is forced against the heel seat. The thermoplastic adhesive 10 which passes through the slot 16 is spread over the tab 12 during the heel-seat molding operation to form a heel-attaching face 80 (Fig. 4) which is substantially complemental to the attaching face 38 of the heel 40 to be attached to the shoe. Before attaching the heel to the shoe the attaching face of the heel is preferably coated with thermoplastic adhesive and is heated as disclosed in the above-mentioned application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 81,306. 7

As the. mold 32 is moved down against the supporting pressure of the wipers 26, limited portions of the sides of the counter portion of the shoe are forced by the wipers toward the mold. Whenthe last 30 upon which the shoe is mounted has been forced against the abutment .62 continued downward movement of the mold 32 causes heavy molding pressure to be exerted against the heel seat of the shoe.

The shank 82 (Fig. 1) of the mold 32 slides in a vertical guideway 84 of the machine frame and is provided with a rack'86 meshing with a gear segment 88 which is keyed to a shaft 90 journaled in the machine frame. The mold 32 is normally held in a raised position by a spring 92 having its upper and lower ends secured respectively to a rearward extension of the gear segment 88 and to the machine frame. Secured to the shaft 90 by a set screw 94 is an arm 96 which is linked through a rod 98 to a treadle l0!) hinged at its rear end to a fixed block. I02. Depression of the treadle H10 causes the mold 32 to be moved down, the treadle being retained in to the proper shape.

The heel-seat molding machine (Fig. 1) may be readily converted into a heel-attaching machine (Fig. 7) in which the heel 40 (Fig. 6), dur-' ing its attachment to the shoe, conforms the heel seat of the shoe to the desired shape and thus operates as a mold. The heel-attaching machine comprises a slide H0 which corresponds to the shank portion 82 of the mold 32-(Fig. 1) and is provided with a depending portion H2 to which back and tread blocks H4, H6 are pivotally secured. The back and tread blocks H4, H6 are constructed and arranged to engage the rear and tread faces respectively of the heel in order effectively to force the heel under heavy molding pressure against the heel seat of the shoe. In operating the heel-attaching machine the operator, after placing hot thermoplastic adhesivebeneath the tab 12 of the sole as above described, positions the heel 40 in the machine the heel seat, thereby conforming the heel seat Molding and'attaching pressure of the heel against the heel seat of the shoe is maintained until the thermoplastic adhesive has set and the heel seat has been permanently conformed to the desired shape. As the heel is forced against the heel seat of the shoe wipers 26a operate upon the sides of the counter portion of the shoe, as above described in connection with the molding machine, thereby insuring that the sides of the counter portion of the shoe be forced into engagement with the rim of the attaching face of the heel 46. Since the back gage 60a, the abutment 62a, and mechanism for operating the slide H0 and the wipers 26a, are substantially identical with corresponding portions of the molding machine illustrated respectively, the same numbers each with an exponent a. I

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine in which pressure is applied against the heel seat of a shoe mounted upon a form to mold said heel seat, a pair of wipers con structed and arranged to be engaged by limited areas of opposite sides of the counter portion of the shoe, and an abutment independent of said wipers, said abutment being arranged to enable the shoe to be moved with relation to said wipers by pressure applied againstthe heel seat of the shoe until limited by the engagement of said form with said abutment thereby causing limited portions of the sides of the counter portion of the shoe to be wipedtoward the heel seat as the shoe is'moved toward the abutment.

-2. In a. machine in which pressure is'applied against the heel seat of 'a shoe mounted upon a 2 form to mold said heel seat, apair of pivotally mounted wipers constructed and arranged to engage limited areas of opposite sides of the counter portion of the shoe, yieldable means for urging the wipers toward each other, and an abutment into engagement with which the form upon which the shoe is mounted is forced under pressure applied against the heel seat of the shoe, said wipers being constructed and arranged to force limited portions of the sides of the counter portion of the shoe toward said heel seat as the shoe and the form upon which it is mounted are moved toward said abutment.

3. A heel-seat molding machine having, in combination, a pair of wipers mounted for yielding movement away from each other and constructed and arranged to engage limited areas of the respective sides of the counter portion of a shoe mounted upon a form, an abutment, heelseat molding means, and mechanism for forcing said means against the heel seat of the shoe first to cause the form upon which the shoe is mounted to be moved into engagement with the abutment during which movement the wipers force portions of the sides of the counter portion of the shoe toward said means, and then to cause the heel seat to be conformed to a predetermined shape under heavy molding pressure while the wipers maintain the sides of the counter portion of the shoe in forced engagement with said means.

4. A heel-seat molding machine having, in combination, a pair of wipers constructed and arranged to engage limited areas of the respective sides of the counter portion of a shoe mounted upon a last, a mold mounted for movement toward and away from the heel-seat portion of said shoe, an abutment spaced from the last upon which said shoe is mounted, and means for forcing the mold against the heel seat of the shoe, said wipers being yieldable under pressure of the shoe as said last is moved toward and into engagement with said abutment and being constructed and arranged upon movement of the shoe under pressure of the mold to force limited areas of the sides of the counter portion of the shoe toward said mold, said mold being constructed and arranged to conform the heel seat of the shoe to a predetermined shape upon the application of heavy molding pressure against the heel seat of the shoe supported through the last by said abutment.

5. A heel-seat molding machine having, in combination, a pair of wipers mounted for yield ing movement away from each other, said wipers being constructed and arranged to engage limited areas of the respective sides of the counter portion of a shoe mounted upon a last, an abutment spaced from the last upon which the shoe is mounted, a mold, means for heating the mold,

and means for forcing the mold against the heel seat of the shoe first to cause the wipers to force the limited portions of the respective sides of the counter portion of the shoe toward the mold and then to cause the last to be forced with considerable pressure against said abutment while said wipers continue to force said portions toward the mold.

6. A heel-seat molding and heel-attaching machine having, in combination, a pair of wipers constructed and arranged to engage the respective sides of the counter portion of a shoe mounted upon a last, an abutment spaced from the last of the shoe in engagement with said wipers, and means for forcing a heel against the heel seat of the shoe after adhesive has been interposed between the heel and the heel seat, said wipers being yieldable under pressure of the shoe to enable the last upon which the shoe is mounted to be forced against the abutment with considerable pressure, said wipers being constructed and arranged to force limited portions of the sides of the counter portion of the shoe with considerable pressure against the rim of the heel while the shoe is being moved toward said abutment and while the heel is being forced against the heel seat of the shoe under molding and attaching pressure.

MICHELE CUOZZO. 

